


what a world we live in

by alltears



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Gay Will Byers, Not Steve/Robin, Post-Canon, Season 3, Sleepovers, just pals bein pals, no plot just soft, not proofread we die like men, wlw/mlm solidarity basically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-09 19:33:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19482544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltears/pseuds/alltears
Summary: Steve reminisces. Robin sleeps over. The Scoop Troop answers the age-old question; can men and women truly be just friends?(Yes, yes they fucking can)





	what a world we live in

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys!! watched all of ST3 today so, im tired. i loved steve and robin's relationship so fucking much, and my friend jules on twitter (@indieburnout) posted about how she wanted a fic about robin and steve having sleepovers so... hewwo. ENJOY!
> 
> title from 'falsettos'

In the short time Steve had known Robin, he had learned that she was always, always right.

At first, he may have felt a bit threatened by that - Steve Harrington had a reputation of wit and charm to unhold, after all - but as they’ve bounced from job to job together, he’s learned how great that is. Robin calls him on his shit, gives him tips of flirting with certain girls, and best of all, she doesn’t care that she’s smarter than him. Nancy said she didn’t care, but Steve could tell. He always could tell.

Robin and Steve are the dynamic duo, because she was right and he was wrong, but they were still best friends. The two musketeers. The Scoop Troop.

Robin and Steve, contrary to everyone’s beliefs, really are just friends.

(No one needs to know that, though).

“Ahoy, dingus!”

“Ahoy, ace,” Steve grabbed Robin’s hand from where they stood in the doorway and pulled her into the Harrington kitchen. “I made grilled cheese-”

“-burnt the shit out of it-”

“-and ordered pizza.”

“Vegetarian?”

“Green pepper and onion.”

“You get me,” Robin laughed, leaning into Steve’s side. Moments where Robin was open and gentle used to overwhelm Steve for a plethora of reasons. Now, he found himself bumping his hip against hers, any romantic feelings he once had drowned out by the sound of his own laughter.

“Stevie, is someone here?” Mrs. Harrington, a shockingly short woman Robin had only met a few excruciating times, waltzed into the kitchen with her purse slung over her shoulder and her rose lipstick still uncapped in her hand. “Oh, Robin! What a surprise!”

“Oh, hello, Mrs. Harrington. Sorry, I didn’t know you would be here tonight,” she shifted uncomfortable, suddenly very aware of the holes in her sweater and the stains on her denim shorts. Robin awkwardly bent over the island to shake the woman’s hand.

“Are you… spending the night?”

Steve to the rescue.

“Yeah, she is. Is that okay?” Steve’s mom contemplated this for a moment, scanned Robin up and down, and put her lipstick in the bag.

“I suppose so,” she sighed. “Your father and I won’t be home until tomorrow, are you sure you’ll be okay until then?”

“Mom, I’m 19 years old.”

“Yes, yeah. Okay,” Mrs. Harrington nodded to herself, and a slight smile brushed across her face. “Be safe, you two!”   
  


“God, ma, get out!” Steve flushed and opened the door for his mom, shooing her out quickly. Once she stepped out, he shut the door behind her and pressed his forehead against the wood. “This is it. I’m dying. Robin, I want you to have all my hair products when I’m gone.”

“That embarrassed of me?”

“What? No! Rob, I’m-”

“Teasing.”

“I hate you,” Robin shook her head, amused, and began digging through the cabinets. Steve meandered behind her, closing the drawers she left open. “Are you okay? Was that too much?”

“Please. I’m just as good a liar as I am a lesbian.”

“I don’t know what that means, but as long as you’re good.” 

“‘Course,” Robin stopped snooping and leaned against the sink counter. “You’re a good friend, Stevie.”

“Shit,” Steve groaned. “Please, don’t call me that.”

“Dingus is better than Stevie?”

“Yes, a thousand times yes!” Robin snorted and pushed his shoulder before she turned back to the cabinets. “What the hell are you looking for?”

“Wine!” Steve blinked at her. “Beer, vodka, alcohol whatever. We have the house to ourselves right? Might as well do  _ something  _ fun.”

Steve just stared.

“Well? Do you know where it is?” Steve at last grinned, gesticulating towards the cabinets at the very top of the room - a good foot above Robin’s head. She glared up at him. “Fuck you, Harrington.”

Two hours and one 6-pack of beer later, it was safe to say that Robin and Steve were effectively pissed drunk where they stood bopping to Whitney Houston in his room.

“Okay, okay okay okay!” Robin yelled, hopping to the stereo and turning down the song. “FMK - Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, and… Billy Hargrove. Go!”

“Ew, no!”

“Don’t think, don’t think, just answer!”   
  


“Kill Hargrove, fuck…” Steve frowned. “Jonathan, and marry Nancy. Happy?”   
  


“Elated!” Robin gasped and jumped onto the bed next to Steve’s head, sliding her knees underneath herself. “You’re fucking Byers over Hargrove?”

“Billy’s an asshole! Jonathan would, at the very least, be a very  _ giving  _ partner!” Robin scrunched up her nose and flopped down next to him, crossing her left leg over his right one.

“Gross, Steve.”

“You asked!” Robin started giggling. “You literally asked, twice!”

Distantly, the scene reminded Steve of when they were high on the Russian serum together; anything and everything dissolving them into roaring laughter, even when nothing was even remotely funny. But no, this was different. Steve and Robin barely knew each other back then, with a friendship based entirely on proximity, trauma, and vague chemistry. They’d both changed, and they changed together. Robin knew Steve in a way no one else did, not even himself. She’s always right, after all.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Robin mumbled into the top of her beer can before sipping. “You can’t tell anyone, ‘cause it’s not my secret.”

“Go ahead.”

“That Byers kid is gay. He told me.”

“What?” Steve shot up. “No he’s not, he’s been dating Nancy for, like, two years!”

“No, stupid. The little one. The Sophomore.”

“Oh. Will,” Steve lied back down and stared at the peeling paint on his ceiling. “That doesn’t really surprise me, I guess.”

“Yeah, well, I guess he overheard me saying something about Jules Rosenthal and thought he could talk to me.”

“Jules is hot.”

“I know,” they both sighed. “Anyways! He came up to me, clutching his little rented copy of  _ Top Gun _ , pulled me aside, and said ‘I like boys’.”

“Whoa.”

“Right? I - What do you say to that? I barely know the kid!”

“So?” Steve rolled to his side and stared at her expectantly.

“I… ugh, it’s stupid. I ruffled his hair and went ‘that’s a-okay, bucko!’”

Steve cackled.

“‘Bucko’?” Robin slapped her hands over her face and groaned. 

“I don’t know! I panicked! Why am I supposed to be the baby twink whisperer?” That only ignited Steve more, not calming down until after the seventeenth hit from Robin next to him. “What did you think when I told you… about Tammy?”

Steve took a deep breath and slung his arm over Robin’s waist, pulling her closer to him and resting his head on her shoulder.

“Steve, did you hear me?”

“Yeah, I’m just thinking,” he almost swatted her hand away when she began combing her fingers through his hair, but decided against it. It felt nice. “I was just happy to be there for you, I think. As far as I knew, I hadn’t met a gay person before - I’ve definitely never had a crush on one before.”

“Well, Jules Rosenthal…”

“Hush,” Robin flicked his head lightly. “You looked really scared. I hadn’t seen you scared before, even in the Russian lab thing. You were scared of me, how I’d react, and that felt really, really shitty. I wanted you to feel safe and happy.”

“Hm.”

“...Is that it?” Steve laughed.

“I don’t know, I’m just really glad I met you, Stevie.”

Steve rolled over so he was staring up at her and grinned. 

“You too, dingus.”

“Hey, that’s my line!”

“You should stop being a dingus then.”

“I hate you.”

“I love you."

“As a friend?”

“Obviously, stupid! God, it’s crazy how wrong you always are.”

“Fuck off. Go to sleep.”

“I love you!” Steve reached up, giggling, and tapped her on the nose. “Boop!”

“Love you, too, stupid.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!! i really love this too so i hope this was readable and made you feel soft and warm inside.   
> twitter: @tcnystcrrk  
> tumblr: @alltears / @findshispride


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